Book Two: The Sickness/Chapter Two
This is the second chapter of Flashfire212's Book Two: The Sickness, the second book in the Will the Echidna storyline. Chapter Two: Know Your Enemy “General! Transmission for you from the fat man!” cried a Dark Legion Technician, his body sweating as he moved his tails uncomfortably. “Ensign. What were you told about intruding on me while I am in my study?” demanded the green echidna general in the full Dark Legion command uniform, his deep black eyes cruelly gazing against the poor fox ensign. “Nnnnot to, General Jacob sir,” the fox quivered, stuttering over the first word. Jacob gave a cruel grin and climbed out of the hammock he would often lie in while in his study, thinking about his actions and reaching out with Chaos Energy. “Not to matter, Ensign. I will go see this transmission. I want you to check the sensors in the forest, because I sensed two groups of people incoming onto the Forest of Light. One group is just two people, and they are entering from the east. The other group has six, and are coming from the north. All of them are emitting large amounts of Chaos Energy, although two of them appear to be Crystal and Clawz, and are not generating as much as the others. Check it out, Ensign. That is all,” “Yyyes, sir. Thankyou, sir. That will be done, sir,” mumbled the technician. Jacob rolled his eyes. “How about NOW!” he bellowed, making the technician jump and bolt out as fast as he can. “What does Eggman want now?” Jacob wondered, walking out towards the communications room. All around him, his personnel would stop and salute. It’s a good feeling to be both respected and feared by my subordinates he thought as he entered the chamber. There stood both a Dark Legion Technician and an echidna wearing a red hooded jacket and black jeans, and bore all the hallmarks of a member of the Flares, one of the gangs that had popped up out of the House of Thunda after the three princes left. “Yo, J, where’s my money?” the gangster asked. Jacob looked annoyed, but kept his voice calm. “You will get your money when I see fit, and you can relay that to your boss, punk,” Jacob said disdainfully. The gangster frowned and reached inside his jacket with each hand, pulling out a handgun in each. “No, I’m going back to my boss with the money, over your dead body if I have to, J. Give me the money, or you’re gonna be full o’ lead!” the gangster pushed. Jacob instantly reacted. His hand flew to his side where he kept a knife at all times, drawing it with practiced ease. He spun, using the knife to slice straight through the gangster’s wrists, then flipped himself over the gangster, holding his knife straight at the gangster’s neck, applying pressure as needed as a Dark Acolyte raced in, having heard the alert activated by the technician. “Understand this, punk. I gave you time to leave, and come back with reinforcements so you actually posed a threat. You attacked me, a fully trained Dark Acolyte and a general, in MY OWN BASE for money for your boss. Well, now you aren’t going to get the chance to tell him with your voice, but maybe your head will convey the message just as well,” Jacob drawled, before raising his head towards the Dark Acolyte, “Soldier, take him outside and finish him, then have his head sent to his boss. Also, take those pistols and give them to the techs for modification. Is that clear?” “Yes sir!” the Acolyte snapped a salute, before grabbing and dragging the echidna outside, then returning, grabbing the pistols and turning to go. “What’s your name, Acolyte?” Jacob asked. “Sir? It’s Ziber, sir,” “Ziber, as in son of the Kommissar?” “Correct, sir,” “Well then, you have my permission to return to your mother and tell her that Jacob just promoted you. Congratulations, Captain Ziber,” “Thank you, General!” Ziber cried spinning around with a massive grin on his face. However, as soon as he left, he looked furious. “Mother will be glad for this information on the traitor’s activities,” he muttered. Meanwhile, Jacob walked into the communications booth where a hologram of Dr. Eggman sat waiting for him. “Jacob! Late again?” Eggman asked. “Sorry, Doctor, but I had to deal with an assassination attempt,” Jacob replied. “I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe the offer I have for you will raise your spirits,” the Doctor said. “Ok then Doctor, let’s hear it,” Jacob motioned towards the hologram, which seemed to swell with plotting. “Here I have a large number of badniks and Egg Pawn based robots for your use, and a special treat: the latest Metal Sonic, equipped with brand new retractable battle claws which can emit poisons.” “Excellent, Doctor. I will be awaiting their arrival keenly,” “They will arrive in approximately half an hour. I will also deploy some units from a nearby base into the Forest of Light for a scan, if you wish,” “That would be very helpful, Doctor Eggman. I await further contact,” Jacob finished, making a theatrical bow as the hologram of Eggman disappeared. He then exited the building to see a Dark Legion Technician cleaning up the blood with his tails as well as a mop. Jacob rolled his eyes and walked out to the training arena, where a new squad of experimental soldiers were being trained. They were armed with laser bows, and were pretty accurate. “What soldier class is this, captain?” he asked the training captain. “These are Dark Archers, sir. Made up completely of female hedgehogs, they are trained to shoot out robots,” “Very nice, captain. Where are the Acolytes? I feel like training,” “Well, the Acolytes are on patrol, but the best fighters amongst them are in the arena we built in this pathetic village, General,” “Understood. I will go train against them, if that is ok by you, Captain,” “Of course, sir,” the training captain saluted, then rotated to continue his instructing. Jacob grinned and walked into the arena, where a group of Dark Acolytes, the elite soldiers of the Dark Legion, were dueling each other. “Don’t let me stop you, but I will take challenges, boys,” Jacob said cockily. One of the two dueling Acolytes stopped, his halberd falling to his side. “Ok, General, you’re on. I’ve been training for a fight like this, so lets see how you do against me!” “Brave, soldier, if not a little foolish,” Jacob retorted, grabbing a spear from the pile of weapons there beside the ring, then walked in, instantly dropping into a combat position. “Begin!” shouted the Acolyte refereeing, a little sheepishly. Instantly the two combatants raced towards each other, trying to knock the other over like jousting knights. At the last second, Jacob dived sideways, throwing his opponent off balance. He then followed up by channeling Chaos Energy through the spear, before throwing it. The Acolyte didn’t have time to blink as the spear slammed into his arm, making him drop his halberd. He then felt himself being hauled to his feet, then a fist smash into his face, knocking him back down. He looked to see Jacob, the respected General, grinning cruelly, before helping the soldier up. “Very well done, soldier. I wasn’t expecting such a battle from you. I expect great things from you, great things indeed,” “Thank you, General,” the acolyte replied, massaging his swollen lip uncomfortably, spitting blood. At that moment, a Dark Legionnaire raced in. “General! The robot army from Doctor Eggman has arrived!” “Thanks for the fight, soldier. Maybe another time you might best me,” Jacob saluted, until the soldier returned the salute. “Maybe, General, maybe,” he murmured. Jacob followed the Legionnaire out to the gates, which were opened, letting in the massive amount of badniks and Egg Pawns. At the lead of this decent-sized force was Metal Sonic. “Greetings, General. Please take the time to inform Metal Sonic of its mission. In the meantime, I will have the robots transferred to your control room, with an override code built into them all, of course,” Eggman’s voice came out from the speakers on Metal Sonic’s head, making it appear that Eggman was inside Metal Sonic. Jacob smiled, then began to speak. “We will be fitting you with poison for your claws, just so you have more power in case the echidna brat comes along. You will have to shut down for the fitting process though.” “Affirmative. I will proceed to the tech lab for refit, General,” replied Metal Sonic, who walked off to the tech lab. As soon as Metal Sonic entered the lab, Jacob pulled a small communicator out of his pocket. “This is the General. Begin code ‘optimization’ at once,” he said, before turning and watching the technicians swarm out with reprogramming devices and set to work on the robot army. “Soon, those robots will never answer to Eggman again!” he laughed, before walking back to his study. Characters Jacob Dark Legion Technicians, Acolytes, Legionnaires and Archers Ziber the Echidna Dr. Eggman Metal Sonic Member of the Flares Category:Fanfic Chapters